


It's the Pelvic Thrust (That Really Drives You Insane)

by Eggums



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Broadway, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, M/M, Rocky Horror Picture Show - Freeform, Silly, mentions of a case involving underage victims, mentions of a statutory rapist, rent - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 09:12:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12861396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggums/pseuds/Eggums
Summary: Sonny meets the man of his dreams and he's singing Broadway hits.NOTE: a case Carisi and Rollins are working on involves a female potential teenaged victim and then later on a female statutory rapist, however because I didn't delve deeply into the case, I didn't feel it was necessary to add Archive Warnings. If you feel this was in error, please alert me.





	It's the Pelvic Thrust (That Really Drives You Insane)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tobeconspicuous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobeconspicuous/gifts).



“What is with that dumb look on your face, Carisi?”  
“How many times I gotta tell you, that’s just how my face looks, Rollins.”

Amanda laughed, pulling her hand from the steering wheel and reaching over to slap Sonny’s arm, “You think you’re so funny. Don’t think I can’t see that big dumb grin you’re sporting.”  
“Alright, alright.”  
“What happened? Did Barba grace you with a compliment? ‘Carisi, you’re not a complete moron today.’”  
Sonny snorted, “ _No_. The place we’re going- I’ve heard some interesting things about it. I’ve always wanted to see it.”

“You realize we’re going to interview potential witnesses? About an underage stripper?”

“Key word: potential. There’s no guarantee we’ll find anyone who even knows Anna Jenkins - if she even is a stripper- I mean a _dancer_ like someone _accused_ her of.”  
“Still, we’re there for work, Son, not for fun.”

“I know, I know. I’ve just heard good things. It’s not a strip club, it’s a theater. Some people do burlesque dancing… other people do other… you know, dancing.”  
“Ah yes, other dancing where the performer gets naked.”  
“They don’t all get naked, Amanda. Just some.”

“Well keep your eyes peeled for witnesses. You want to come eyeball the strippers-” Sonny huffed and Amanda laughed, “I’m sorry, the _dancers_ , you come on your own time.”

“I’ve tried! It’s underground so they move locations every couple of months. It can be tough to pin them down to get in if you’re not in the loop or a friend of a friend of a friend.”  
“God that sounds like a lot of work to watch people get naked. It’s called the Internet, Sonny.”

Sonny laughed and shook his head, “You’ll see. This is much different.”

 *

 The music was loud, the room was stuffy and Amanda felt a headache coming on at just the smell. Alcohol, food, perfume and sweat.  
“So far this place looks like every other strip club I’ve been to.”  
“You go to a lot?”

“Oh yeah, get the babysitter in for Jessie and go stuff some dollar bills in someone’s g-string. Gotta help ‘em pay for college, you know? Law school and shit.”

Sonny laughed, “C’mon, we gotta talk our way backstage and start asking around.”  
Amanda tapped Sonny’s arm, “Just a minute, my phone’s going.” She checked, “Ah, shit, it’s my baby-sitter. Give me a sec. Sit tight, enjoy the show. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Sonny flopped down at an empty table near the stage and watched a shapely young woman doing a fan dance to some awful-sounding German house music. Sonny found his phone to be far more interesting. After a few minutes her set ended and she walked off the stage to scattered applause.

An announcer spoke out over the din of voices, “Our next performer is an audience favorite. Give it up for _El Consejero,_ ” The man’s voice dropped loud, “ _Raúl_ !”  
Several people in the audience cheered and a man sauntered onto the stage to heavy applause.

Sonny sat up then.

The man on stage wore a gold mask over the top half of his face. The mask was large and had cat features including two triangular ears and a cute cat muzzle that shadowed the lower half of his face. Tufts of gold and white fur sprouted from the tips of the ears and on the muzzle where there was also long white whiskers.

Beyond the eyeholes, Sonny could see that the man wore gold eyeliner around his eyes and eye black around that - probably to keep the glare of the stage lights out of his eyes but it also served to further hide his features.

Aside from the elaborate mask, the man wore a short gold and silver silky-looking robe, haphazardly tied at the waist.

It certainly wasn’t a bad look for the man.  
The gold accented his already golden skin and from where he sat, Sonny could see he had light colored eyes.  
From the distance and thanks to the height of the cat ears, Sonny couldn’t tell if he was short but he was definitely well built.  
He had broad shoulders and from the open v of the robe Sonny could see a thick chest with a dusting of dark chest hair.

Beneath the robe were a pair of strong, well-muscled legs, sporting the same dusting of dark hairs as his chest. His feet were bare.

Sonny found himself leaning forward, completing unaware of how his mouth was parted in awe.  
Whoever he was, he certainly was not underage and therefore Sonny had no qualms about watching.

Electric guitars and fast moving drum beat suddenly pounded from the speakers and the man strut forward, hips swaying. Sonny recognized the song from the musical, Rent, “ _What’s the time? Well it’s gotta be close to midnight! My body’s talkin’ to me, says, ‘Time for Danger!’_ ”

Sonny gaped. On stage the man dragged his hands down his chest, “ _Says I wanna commit a crime. Wanna be the cause of a fight! Wanna put on a tight skirt_ ,” he yanked the belt of the robe lose and shrugged it off, tossing it to the side, “ _And flirt, with a stranger_.”

Under the robe the man wore a pair of gold lamé shorts and nothing else.  
The audience cheered.

And no wonder. The man’s body was handsomely defined, his stomach was headed towards paunchy but he kept his back straight and it was clear there was muscle under the soft curve of his belly.  
The shorts sat surprisingly well and hugged his hips enticingly. From the front, Sonny saw that the shorts left nothing to the imagination. Not that he minded.  
When the man turned, Sonny saw that the shorts also had a short little tail that bounced on the man’s ass.

Sonny whistled appreciatively. He was so focused on the body beneath the robe he didn’t notice the performer point right at him when he sang the word ‘stranger’.

“ _I’ve had a knack, from way back- of breakin’ the rules once I learned the game. Get up! Life’s too quick, I know someplace sick!”_ He put his hands on his hips and thrust, _“Where this chick’ll dance in the flames!_ ”

The audience cheered and Sonny cheered with them.

“ _We don’t need any money, I always get in- for free. You can get in too,”_ He pointed at Sonny again and Sonny laughed as the man onstage mimed dragging a rope towards himself, _“if you get in with me!_ ” He spread his arms and spun, “ _Let’s go ou-oo-t tonight!”_ He howled the word ‘out’ and again the audience cheered, many howling with him.  
“ _I have to go- ou-ooo-t tonight! You wanna play, let’s run away we won’t be back before it’s Christmas day- take meout tonight!_ ” He clawed his hands in front of him, dropped into a squat thrust - and with him, dropped Sonny’s jaw - and swiped playfully at the audience, “ _Meow! Ha!_ ”

Back on his feet again he sashayed across the stage, “When I get a wink from the doorman, do’you know how lucky you’ll be? That you’re on line with the feline of Avenue B!”  
He moved fast, hips constantly swaying as though he were Salsa-dancing.  
“Let’s go ou-oo-t tonight! I have to go- ou-oo-t tonight!”

He dropped to all fours and stalked forward, “ _You wanna prowl, be my night owl. Well take my hand, we’re gonna how-ooool oooout tonight!_ ”  
The music dropped and with it, the lights until the man was under one spotlight on his knees at the edge of the stage.

“ _In the evening, I’ve got to roam, can’t sleep in the city of neon and chrome. Feels too damn much like home, when the Spanish babies… cry-y_ .”

He climbed to his feet, “ _So let’s find a bar, so dark we forget who we are- but all the scars from the nevers and maybes diiiie!’_

He thrust his arms up and the electric guitars wailed, “ _Let’s go ou-oo-t tonight! Uh huh! I have to go ou-ooh!-t tonight!_ ” He jerk his hips, grunting out a few gasps and turned his head so that he was facing Sonny, “ _You’re sweet, wanna hit the street? Wanna wail at the moon like a cat in heat- just take me ou-oo-t tonight!”_ he dropped to all fours again and crawled towards Sonny.  
He gasped and in a breathy voice sang, “ _Please take me- ou-oot tonight Don’t forsake me- ou-oo-t tonight.”_

Sonny couldn’t wipe the huge smile off his face as the man drew closer, “ _I’ll let you make me ou-oo-t tonight! Tonight! Tonight! Tonight!”_ stalking closer with each ‘tonight’. He was nearly face-to-face with the man when the song ended and the lights went down dramatically.

Seconds later the lights went up and the man was standing, walking away - hips still swaying so that the cat tail seemed to wave ‘good-bye’ to Sonny.  
The audience erupted into cheers and applause and Sonny slumped backwards into his seat, fanning himself.

Onstage the man bowed and left the stage as Amanda reached Sonny’s table, “Wow.”  
“Did you see that?”  
“Did I see the guy with the hot bod totally trying to hook up with you on stage? Uhhh, yeah.”  
Sonny covered his face, “Oh my god, he was so hot.”  
“His body was, I’ll give you that. Couldn’t see his face. What if he’s ugly?”  
“Who cares? Did you see that ass?”

Amanda laughed, “C’mon loverboy, let’s go backstage and maybe you’ll get to meet the boy with the shiny gold ass.”

 *

 A chat with the bartender informed them that there was indeed a stage manager who allowed them to head backstage.  
“Cool your jets, Sonny, you look like you’re about to explode.” Amanda said as they walked up the steps to the backstage door.

“Can you blame me?”

Backstage the din was even louder and they had to yell just to be heard.

They approached anyone who wasn’t directly on stage and showed them a photograph of a young woman. The girl looked quite young and there was a persistent rumor that she’d been spotted performing a burlesque routine at this very same popular theater group’s shows. Photos had been found of her in full costume and _out_ of costume on a school employee’s computer.

The first few performers were newcomers themselves and hadn’t seen the girl but some of the more well known acts did recognize her, though they knew her under a stage name.  
Amanda decided to backtrack to the stage manager - while they’d shown him the photo first, he claimed he’d never seen the girl but also explained that he was new to the group himself.

“We’ve gotta find the stage manager who preceded him - he’d have seen the girl’s ID, fake or not. The new guy’s gotta have some contact info.” She grinned at Sonny, “I just saw the guy with the shiny gold ass headed down the hall - maybe you wanna talk to him?”

Sonny went pink but Amanda didn’t seem to notice, “Remember, Son, we’re here to work, not play. Make it quick.”

Sonny didn’t need to be told twice. He hurried down the hall in the direction Amanda pointed out and turned a corner to find the man pushing open a door.  
“Uh, excuse me! Sir?” Sonny called out, his long legs closing the distance between them.  
The man turned his head and froze. He still wore his mask and he’d found his filmy short robe. He wore it but it hung, untied. Sonny could clearly see the gold shorts he wore.  

Sonny swallowed hard, raising his voice to make sure he could be heard, “Can- I, uh, can I talk to you?”  
The man lifted his chin and straightened. Sonny was delighted to see that even at full height, he was still fairly short. Then again, he was still barefoot.  
Sonny put his hands on his hips and straightened himself to his full height.  
The dim lights of the hallway cast even darker shadows from his mask and Sonny could barely make out his chin.

“Something I can help you with… Detective?” He crossed his arms over his chest and Sonny got the feeling he was trying to look imposing.

“How did you know that I’m a Detective?”  
“I can see your badge on your waist and you’re plain-clothed.”  
Sonny glanced down to see that sure enough, his badge shone in the dim light of the backstage hallway, “Right. Well- I heard your intro when you went onstage earlier, said you’re an audience favorite. That mean you’ve been here a while?”

“Something like that. I’ve performed for years but I don’t perform often. Is there something you need?”  
Sonny held up his phone to show the photo to the man, “You see this girl here before?”

The man held his hand out, “Mind if I take a closer look?”  
“Yeah, sure.” He handed the man his phone, “I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name before- er- Mr…?”  
The man ducked his head to look at the photo on the phone, “You can call me Raúl but- I can honestly say _I’ve_ never seen this girl before. Did anyone else recognize her?”  
“A few people.” Sonny took his phone back from Raúl and slid it into his back pocket.  
He frowned, trying to think of another reason to keep talking to the man.

“My apologies, I can’t help you out. If there’s nothing else, Detective, I need to be going.”

“Yeah- right… uh-”

Raúl cocked his head to one side, placed his hands on his hips and Sonny could see every curl of hair on his chest and the hair that trailed down his abdomen and disappeared beneath the waist of the shiny gold shorts.

“Well- uh- I really enjoyed- that is- you- did good. Real good.” Sonny shut his eyes and grimaced.  
When he opened his eyes, he could see a flash of teeth within the shadow of Raúl’s mask. A smile, if Sonny wasn’t mistaken, “...Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the show.”

Raúl gestured to the door, “Hope your case pans out, Detective. Have a good night.” He opened the door, cast Sonny one more glance before walking into the room and shutting the door behind him.

“Fuck.”

“Ay, Carisi, you get anything?” Amanda called from the end of the hall.  
Sonny turned and made his way down towards her, “Nah, Raúl never saw the girl.”  
“Oh- you got a name, huh? _Raúl_? Sounds sexy - you get his number?”  
Sonny huffed and Amanda rolled her eyes, “Seriously? The guy was this close to dragging you on stage to let you ‘make him out’ and you dropped the ball?”

“I couldn’t ask him out - I’m on official police business!”  
“Oh, puh-lease, Carisi, you chickened out.”  
Sonny narrowed his eyes at her and half turned, ready to walk back to Raúl’s door and knock.

Amanda grabbed his arm, “As funny as it’d be to watch you make a fool of yourself in front of a man who is mostly naked, we gotta roll - Benson’s calling.” She shook her phone at Sonny.  
“I got the old stage manager’s contact info and the new one’s too, c’mon, you can ask him the next time _Raúl’s_ supposed to perform.”

Sonny cast one longing look back at Raúl’s door before sighing and following Amanda out.

 *

 “Talk to me, tell me updates.” Rafael Barba strode into SVU bullpen, “The Anna Jenkins case.”  
He saw only Carisi sitting there at his desk on his computer.

Sonny gestured for the ADA to come closer, “You’ve got good timing, Barba. I was just trawling through some records.”  
“About?”

“Anna Jenkins. She’s adopted, you know. Name on the adoption records is Anna Monroe. Decided to see what I could find on her before she was adopted by Thomas and Nora Jenkins, two years ago.”  
“What’d you find?”  
“More like, what didn’t I find. I didn’t find Anna Monroe. Sure, lots of folks with the name but not her age or where she claims to be from. So we’re running her prints from the home they had her in before the adoption.”

“Any news yet?” Amanda called, appearing with Fin behind her.

“Nah, they’re takin their sweet time running her prints.” Sonny sat back in his seat, tapping his pen against his desk.  
“Alright, so, what’re you thinking, Detectives?” Rafael asked.

Amanda shrugged, “Her story does seem weird. It’s not just a few rumors. We’ve heard from a bunch of her classmates that she likes to sleep around with the boys in her grade.”  
“Teenagers having sex with other teenagers isn’t a crime, Rollins.” Rafael scoffed.

“Sure, if they’re both teenagers. The rumors keep coming in, Counselor. One student, Patty Ruiz - her older brother, Oscar, came forward and claimed he’d witnessed the girl dancing in a strip club.” Sonny spoke up. He glanced at Amanda, “A _real_ strip club.”

Amanda snorted, “You mean that burlesque theater you took me to wasn’t a strip club?”  
Sonny rolled his eyes, “Anyway, these places all got something in common. They demand identification to work or perform there. Fin’s already made a few rounds to some strip clubs and showed her photo around, see if anyone recognizes her. Rollins and I went to a theater she’d been spotted at and we got a couple of hits.”

“Yeah? Anything concrete?”

“So far we’re waiting on them, too. Got in touch with the ex-stage manager of the ‘burlesque theater’.” Amanda said, using finger quotes, “He’s coming in tomorrow to see if he recognizes her. He did say he remembered one performer who looked way too young - but he couldn't remember the exact name on her ID. He did say he was suspicious enough to verify the ID was 100 percent real, tho and it checked out.”  
Rafael nodded, opened his mouth to speak and was interrupted by his own phone.

“Just a moment.” He took a few steps away from Sonny’s desk to answer.

“You gonna go back there, Sonny? See if you can’t get any more information out of _Raúl_?”  
Amanda stage whispered to Sonny, smirking.  
“You wish you had a guy that hot lookin at you.”   
“Ooh, you grew some balls! Enough to ask him out?” Amanda laughed.

“Something funny, Detectives?” Rafael asked, stepping closer again.  
“Not at all.” Sonny huffed, “Detective Rollins just doesn’t know how to mind her own business.”

“Charming. Keep the bickering to a minimum, if you please. Focus on the case at hand.” Rafael sighed, “Is there anything else?”  
“Just playing the waiting game, Counselor.”

“Great. Keep me updated.”   

“Hey Son, you should take Barba with you to your thing. He looks like the kind of guy who enjoys the theater.” Amanda said, a shark-like grin on her face.  
“Oh my god, Amanda, seriously.”

Rafael smirked, moving towards Olivia’s closed door, “Stay classy, Rollins.”

“I was born classy, Barba!” The blonde detective called back.

 *

 Sonny stepped into the hazy dark of the theater floor. New location, same atmosphere.  
On stage two men performed an impressive-looking contortionist act.

Sonny made his way to the bar. The crowd was dense that night and Sonny had arrived later than he’d hoped. 

He’d given in to temptation not long after their first meeting and contacted the current stage manager, Daniel, asking when Raúl was scheduled to perform again. He lied and claimed he needed to question Raúl again.   
Thankfully the stage manager hadn’t questioned him heavily.  
Sonny asked when and Daniel said he’d contact him when Raúl scheduled a performance.

When he finally did contact Sonny, Daniel didn’t bother asking why Sonny still needed to question Raúl two months after the case had been wrapped up.  
A fact Daniel would know since a few of the performers testified against Anna Jenkins.  

Thanks to the previous stage manager, they’d gotten a copy of the ID Anna Jenkins used to audition for the theater group. The name on it was Joyanne Munroe and it was very real. The name was the very same that popped up for the fingerprint search Sonny requested.

A background search of the name revealed a 26-year old woman who seemed to bounce around towns after her 18th birthday, when she was pulled from the foster system.

As the SVU detectives chipped away at her façade, they discovered what seemed unbelievable.

Joyanne had a beautifully youthful face and took several jobs where she could earn money fast - mostly strip clubs. She moonlighted as a burlesque dancer and found a higher caliber of clientele. Men who were more than willing to entertain a beautiful dancer, a _performer_ , with lavish dates and expensive gifts.

Joyanne managed to put herself back into the foster system at 23 and found the ultimate free-ride. Rich parents who lost their teenage daughter in a car accident.   
It helped that Joyanne looked similar to their late daughter.  
With them, she could redo her teenage experience but instead of being a poor foster kid in a shitty high school, she was the doted-on only daughter of wealthy parents in an exclusive private school.  
  
She couldn’t seem to beat the habit, though. She loved expensive things and the pocket money her adopted parents provided didn’t fulfill her desires.  
Joyanne loved to party, loved to be the center of attention. She loved making hundreds of dollars in one evening.

Now Joyanne sat in a women’s prison for 5 counts of statutory rape.

The case was over and Sonny had moved on to others, just as convoluted and just as heart-breaking.

Sonny wanted to take his mind of things, enjoy himself.  
It wasn’t as though he hadn’t tried in those two months to see Raúl perform again.  
Raúl hadn’t been performing.  
Sonny had other chances to see the group perform but without Raúl’s assured appearance, there wasn’t much draw.

Raúl not performing for so long, Sonny felt, was a tragedy but… at least he hadn’t missed anything.

Finally, Daniel called.  
Raúl had scheduled a performance. Set a date.  
Sonny wondered what he was planning.  
He wondered if he’d get to see the man’s body again.

Now Sonny had arrived late, much to his annoyance.  
Barba, of all people, called him in to his office demanding case notes, asking questions over completed reports and then suggesting Sonny stay late and do paperwork.

When Sonny admitted he had important plans that night, the ADA scoffed.  
“What’s so important?” He rolled his eyes, “Got a date?”  
“Not that it’s any of your business, Counselor, but I’m gonna see a show and I don’t want to be late.”

Rafael had briefly narrowed his eyes at this admission before he grinned, “This the thing Rollins was talking about? The… _burlesque_ show?” He said the word burlesque, as though it were an insult.  
Sonny frowned at that. Rafael Barba might’ve been worldly and educated but he didn’t need to be rude about other people’s interests.  
He was also gorgeous and sexy in that suit, but that was hardly an excuse either.

“Are we done here, Barba? I’m gonna be late.”  
“Oh c’mon, Carisi, are you seriously going to-?”  
“Yeah, alright, say what you want, God knows you always do. Do me a favor,” He stood up from where he sat and buttoned his suit coat over his waistcoat, “Write up whatever clever insult you got about me or my plans, type it into an email and send it to me. Win-win. You get to mock me and I get to delete it without reading. Sound good? Fantastic. Have a good night, Counselor.”

Sonny took one last look at Rafael’s surprised face, turned and left his office without another word.  
He only hoped he wasn’t so late that he missed Raúl’s performance. Daniel hadn’t mentioned what time he’d be on stage and there wasn’t exactly a playbill at this thing.

After the contortionists left the stage, the woman with the fan-dancing reappeared and Sonny thought he might cry if he’d missed Raúl’s performance but arrived just in time to reexperience her & her awful German house music.  
Sonny signaled the bartender and ordered a drink, “Make it strong, I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.”  
The bartender laughed. When asked, he assured Sonny that Raúl had appeared backstage just a short time ago and that he’d be performing soon with an ensemble.

“You… know him? Raúl?”  
The bartender, Justin, shrugged, “Never seen him without a ton of makeup or a mask. It’s dark as hell in here, too. He’s nice enough, quiet. He always orders Scotch and tips well.”

“Yeah? Alright… alright. He- does he stick around after a show? Hang out?”

“Sometimes.”

The fan-dancer left the stage and Sonny massaged his temples while he made his way to a table. It wasn't nearly as close to the stage as he’d like but it was better than missing the show.  
He nursed his drink through two more sets, neither outstanding but still entertaining.

Finally the announcer introduced an ensemble and Sonny put away his phone.  
An excited air stirred the crowd as the lights darkened.  
After a minute, the lights came up and on stage lay several people in skimpy costumes. In the center stood a couple in much more innocent costumes: a blonde woman in a pink dress and a man wearing glasses and a suit.

The two huddled together and began backing away to the back of the stage.  
“For God’s sake, say something.”

Sonny had to laugh.

Onstage, Brad barked, “Say!” and the people laying on the floor suddenly sat up, heads jerking to stare at the couple, “Any of you guys know how to Madison?”  
A deep bass beat began pounding and the people staggered to their feet.  
Sonny and the audience around him cheered. He craned his neck. Everyone dressed as the party-goers wore tons of makeup. Sonny wondered which of the half naked men could be Raúl.

“Oh, Brad, let’s get out of here!” Janet moaned. The people around them ran around the terrified couple, giggling and smiling. “This seems so unhealthy. I’m cold- and I’m wet- and I’m just plain scared.”  
“I’m here, Janet, there’s nothing to worry about!”  
“Brad! I wanna go!” They rushed to the back of the stage where double doors could be seen. Behind it, an eerily glowing light could be seen.

As they reached for the handle, the doors flew open and the couple jumped back, landing on the floor and gaping at the cloaked man standing in the doorway.

The audience around him shrieked and Sonny sat up straighter, trying to see the man beyond the heavy makeup, bright red lipstick, false lashes and outrageously curly wig.  
_Dr. Frank-N-Furter_. He had to be Raúl.  
Lipsticked lips pulled back in a sneer, “How do’you do, I- see you met my- faithful- _handyman._ ”

Janet flopped backwards in a faint and Frank rolled his eyes before training them on Brad,  
“He’s just a- little brought down because- when you knocked- he thought you were the- _candyman_.”

Frank sashayed away from the bemused couple and Sonny could see the sparkling platforms he wore beneath the cloak.

“Don’t get strung out- by the way I look! Don’t judge a book by it’s _cov-er_ !’  
Frank stopped at the end of the stage and cocked his hip, “I’m not- much of a man- by the light of day,” He smirked at the audience and drew back his shoulders, “but by night I’m _one hell_ of a _lo-ver_.”

Sonny yelled the loudest when Frank threw off the cloak, revealing the costume underneath.  
Onstage, Frank planted his hands on his hips strut forward, “I’m just a sweet transvestite,” Another devilish grin as the partygoers around him joined in, singing, “ _Sweet transvestite_!” “From- transexual- Transylvania _aa- ha-ha_!”

Sonny tried hard to focus on the face but the skin-tight, laced up top he wore showed off his well-muscled arms. Lace and leather covered his forearms, leaving his fingers bare. His fingernails were painted. Fat shimmering pearls looped around his neck.  
Sonny tried not stare too hard at the black panties Frank wore beneath a garter-belt that was making an attempt at covering his hips. Like Sonny, they were failing.  
Garters ran down thick thighs and clipped to fishnet thigh-highs that had to be painted on.  
Frank strut on platform heels like he was born in them.

“Let me- show you around. Maybe- play you a sound.” He teetered towards the couple who were huddling together again, “You look like you’re both- pretty _groovy_ .” Frank winked at the audience and made a face, including them in the joke.  
“Or if you- want something visual, that’s not- too abysmal- we could take in an old Steve Reeves movie!”

Brad hurried forward as Frank crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m glad we- caught you at home. Could we use your phone? We’re both in a bit of a hurry.”

Frank sneered, “Right.” he walked behind them to a couch that the partygoers were pulling out for him. He sat down legs opened obscenely and the partygoers began stroking any part of him they could reach.  
“We’ll just- say where we are- then go back to the car.” Brad murmured, “We don’t want to be- any worry.”

“WELL _you got- caught with a flat_ ,” Frank boomed, startling Brad and Janet, “ _Well, how ‘bout that.”_ He arched an eyebrow and smirked at the audience, sending everyone in their seats into a cheer, “Well, babies, don’t you _panic_.”

Frank stood from the couch and walked forward, hips swinging, “By the light of the night- it’ll all seem alright. I’ll get you a _satanic_ \- _mechanic_.”

The partygoers pulled the couch forward to meet him and Frank sat amongst them, “I’m just a sweet transvestite-”  
“ _Sweet transvestite_ !” The partygoers chorused around him, “From- transsssexual- Transylvaniaaaa- _ha-ha_ !”   
  
He laid back, cushioning himself against Colombia and propping his legs on Riff Raff’s lap.

Sonny could see every gorgeous muscle of his legs under the fishnet.

“Why don’t you- stay for the night?” The partygoers hissed, “ _Night_ .”  
“Or maybe- a bite.” Colombia snapped her teeth, repeating the word, “ _Bite_ .”  
“I could show you my _favor_ ite- _obsession_ .” Frank flashed his teeth at the audience, eyes roving the gleeful faces he found, “I’ve been- making a man- _blond hair_ and Italian-” He licked his lips, “And he’s good for- relieving my- _t-t-t-tension_!” Frank sang the word gazing up at the sky and bit his lip. 

The partygoers shoved Brad and Janet towards the middle of the stage and Frank grabbed them both by the shoulders, pushing them to their knees, “I’m just a sweet transvestite- from- transexual- Transylvaniaaaa- _ha-ha_! HIT IT HIT IT!”

He danced around the couple, skipping in his heels, and Sonny watched in awe as the man’s lacy black panties barely contained his plump ass, “ _I’m just a sweet transvestite- from transexual- Transylvaniaaa!”  
_ He stood in the center of the partygoers, everyone on their hands and knees around him.

The audience cheered, applause thunderous as Frank smirked at them, hands on his hips.  
He grinned until they quieted.

“So!” Sonny whooped, loud enough to be heard, and Frank flashed a genuine smile before continuing, “Come up to the lab.” Everyone jumped to their feet except Brad and Janet.  
Frank kneeled beside them, “And _see_ \- what’s on the _slab_ ,” He intoned in a deep voice before rising to his feet.

“I see you _shiver_ \- with antici-”

He widened his eyes and paused and around him the partygoers and the audience whispered and moaned, “Say it! _Say it_!”

He flashed his teeth and leaned in, red lips shining invitingly, “- _pation_ .”  
Everyone moaned in relief, none so relieved as Sonny.

“But! _Maybe the rain_ -” Frank sang, before dropping back to his speaking voice, “-is really to blame. So- I’ll remove the cause.”

He smiled mockingly, a giggle working its way out, unable to be contained. He stopped, sneered and spat, “ _But not- the symptom!_ ” the music burst out in a startling shriek and the lights dropped. 

The audience erupted in delighted screams and cheering. Even Sonny found himself on his feet, applauding in awe.

The lights came up again and the ensemble stood onstage - all but Frank-N-Furter.   
They bowed to the cheers and grinning, Riff Raff ran forward and began the starting lines to the “Time Warp”. The audience cheering grew louder and several people joined in from where they stood by their tables.

Sonny craned his neck, searching for Raúl among the ensemble cast.

He made his way around the dancing throngs and before he could think about what he was doing, he was heading up the steps leading backstage. He dodged around other performers, trying to catch a glimpse of a curly wig or fishnet stockings.  
  
Feeling pleased with himself for remembering where Raúl’s dressing room was, he made his way there. The door stood closed but he steeled his resolve.  
He raised his hand to knock and the door was yanked open.

“Can I help you?” a woman- the fan-dancer.

Sonny stared in confusion, “Isn’t this Raúl’s dressing room?”  
“He likes to think so but not tonight! I got here first. _He_ ’s sharing with the other guys from his ensemble-”  
“Wh-where?”  
The woman shrugged, “How should I know?”

Sonny groaned and spun away. He hurried away and nearly crashed into another performer, one of the contortionists, “Hey- sorry sorry, hey, did you see Raúl?”  
“Raúl? You mean Frank-N-Furter? Yeah- you just missed him. He shot out of here like the place was on fire - still in full costume. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast in platform heels. I saw him leaving by the back exit.”

Sonny scrambled to where the man gestured towards and threw the exit door open to find- a barely-lit parking lot and a few people milling around.

“ _Fuck_ .” Sonny kicked at a stone on the stoop and watched it clatter away off the edge and into the shadows.  
  
“Ow!”

“Shit, sorry! I didn’t realize anyone was there!” Sonny rushed down the steps and jogged around the steps to find _Raúl._

Raúl stood, leaning against the wall of the building, an overcoat covering him. He still wore the wig but his heels were hanging from his hand by the straps. He wore a pair of flip-flops on his feet.  
Sonny could barely make out his face but he knew it was him as sure as anything.

“Hey! I was-” _looking for you?_ Yeah, that’s not creepy. Or stressful, who wants to know a cop has been searching for them?

“I saw you on stage!”

Raúl pointedly rubbed at his head, “Not a fan?” The man’s voice was rough. Sonny wondered if he overtaxed himself singing.  
“What? No! I mean- I didn’t _mean_ to kick a rock at you on purpose, I swear. I’m a fan.”

“Great.”

They lapsed into an awkward silence and Sonny found himself leaning in, trying to make out the man’s features among the makeup and shadows.  
“Something you need, Detective?”

“Oh- sorry- yeah- actually-”  Sonny stuttered, “I-uh- I-”

“Another case?”

“No- no. I- uh-”

“Feel free to get it out sometime tonight, Detective. It’s not as though I have a life or somewhere to be.”

Sonny felt a familiar flash of annoyance at the sarcastic comment. He steeled himself again, suddenly reminded of Barba and his barbed insults from earlier that evening.  
“I wanted to ask you out.”

The admission seemed to silence Raúl for a moment.  
Sonny heard him exhale sharply, “You don’t even know me.”  
“That’s kinda the point of asking you out, _Raúl,_ to get to know you.”

“Are you some kind of stalker?”

“Excuse me?”

“You only show up when I’m performing.”  
“You’ve only seen me here twice-”

“Exactly,” Raúl jabbed a finger towards Sonny, “I haven’t performed in months.”  
Sonny frowned, “Yeah, so, you prove my point- you weren’t here so you wouldn’t have seen me the other times I came.”

“Nice try but you’re not the only one Daniel reports to.”  
Sonny grimaced, caught in his lie, “You could’ve led with that.”  
“And miss seeing you flounder to make up an excuse? Not a chance. In any case, I’m afraid I don’t date my _fans_.” Raúl drawled the word, almost as though it were an insult.

Sonny cocked his head to one side, barely hearing Raúl continue, “So, no thanks on a date.”  
“You seemed pretty interested last time you performed, _Raúl_.”

The shorter man snorted, “It’s called acting, Detective. Had to make it look real and I did it well enough to fool you.”

Sonny crossed his arms over his chest, gazing at Raúl curiously.  
“Apparently.”

Another lengthy silence ensued - Sonny not bothering to hide the fact that he was staring - until Raúl huffed, “You can _go_ now.”  
“I’m good here, thanks. You’re free to go.”

“Thanks for the permission but I was here first.”

“What’s the matter, Barba? You rushed outta that place like a shot from a gun and for what? To stand in the dark and… look pretty?”  
“I fail to see how anything _I_ do is any of _your_ business-” Rafael snapped back before clamping his mouth shut with an audible click.

The look on Sonny’s face spoke volumes. “Oh my god.”  
  
Rafael strode past him, twisting his body just to make sure he didn’t even touch him. He stomped through the parking lot, growing more and more annoyed when he heard Sonny’s footsteps behind him.  
“Alright, fuck it- are you gonna follow me into my car and all the way home, Carisi?” He spun around and nearly collided with the younger man.

“Oh _my_ god!” Carisi crowed, “I just- I can’t fucking believe it!”  
“ _What_ ? That I _dare_ to have a creative side?”

“No!” Sonny laughed, “That you’re so fucking hot underneath those three-piece suits, Counselor! Oh god, I just realized- the announcer called you something- Conejo or something- it means Counselor in Spanish, doesn’t it?”

“ _Conejo_ means rabbit, Carisi.”  
“You know what I mean.”  
“ _Consejero_ means Counselor.” Barba muttered, face still warm from Sonny calling him ‘fucking hot’. “For the record,” he continued, “I’m fucking hot in and out of the three-piece suits.”

Sonny beamed at him, “I mean, I know that. I tried to ask you out, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, _after_ you saw me half naked and thrusting my junk at you.”  
  
“You kidding me? You _hate_ me! I thought if I ever dared to ask you out as ADA Barba, you’d have me arrested. Or- slap me with a lawsuit or something.”  
“I don’t hate you!” Rafael said, incredulously, “What part of me thrusting my junk at you in front of a crowd would make you think I hate you?”

“Okay, first off - I didn’t realize it was you thrusting your junk at me, I thought it was _Raúl._ Secondly, you’re always riding my ass- I didn’t think that phrase through- but regardless, you know what I mean. I don’t think you _hate_ me, Barba, but- I do think- I _did_ think you’d laugh in my face if I asked you out. Getting rejected by your crush is one thing, but being mocked by him- well… I wasn’t willing to go through that.”

Rafael’s brows knit together.

“Speaking of which,” Carisi continued, “You tried and succeeded in getting my attention at your last performance but when I come knockin, you couldn’t get away fast enough. What’s up with that?”

Rafael cocked an eyebrow. He shrugged, “I saw you and I never thought _you’d_ be there because you wanted to - so I decided to have a little fun and scare you off. Kill two birds with one stone. Seeing you with your badge on and Rollins behind you, I realized you were there on police business. So, if I scared you off from wanting to talk to me, I thought it might keep me from getting involved with the case or at least keep _you_ from talking to me. I hadn’t realized you’d enjoy getting hit on by a guy in gold booty shorts.”  
Sonny grinned and wriggled his eyebrows, “I got good taste.”

Rafael snorted, “Aside from that, I didn’t want anyone to know about- this. _Besides_ , when you finally did get around to it, you weren’t asking _me_ out, Carisi. You were asking out _Raúl_.”

“I think we’ve already established why that is, Barba. Do I ask out my mentor who will probably laugh in my face or the hot guy in gold booty shorts who thrust his junk at me in front of an audience?” Sonny held out his hands, palms up as though he were weighing them, “Hmmm! A difficult decision.”

“Rafael.”  
“Pardon?”  
“If you’re asking me out, Cari- _ahem_ , Dominick, you call me Rafael.”  
“By those rules, Rafael, you call me _Sonny_.” Sonny smiled, stepping closer.  
Rafael made a face, “Fine. For now. I happen to _like_ the name Dominick.”  
“Yeah, you and my mom. Don’t call me Dom, that’s my dad.”  
“What about Nicky?”  
Sonny stroked his chin, “Maybe. Can I call you Rafa?”  
“...Maybe.”

“Okay, so, can I kiss you, Rafa?”

Rafael cleared his throat, “I haven’t washed my face.”  
“I definitely do not mind. You? Wearing red lipstick? The hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”  
Rafael couldn’t help smile at that, delighting Sonny. Before he could talk himself out of it, Sonny leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to Rafael’s lips.

He pulled back after a moment to find he’d slightly smudged Rafael’s lipstick - a sight he found incredibly sexy.  
“Surely you can do better than that, _Nicky_.”

Sonny’s eyes widened as Rafael threaded his fingers into his hair and pulled him back down for a deeper kiss.  
Sonny could feel Rafael’s lipstick smearing against his skin, he could taste it when Rafael licked into his mouth. Sonny pulled away first, groaning when he felt the other man move to his neck, pressing warm wet kisses to his throat, tongue darting out to taste the skin there.

“Raf- you keep this up and we’ll never get to our date.”

“Are you insane? There’s no way we’re going anywhere like this.”  
“You look ridiculously hot, there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed about-”  
“Not me, Sonny- _you_.” Rafael leaned back and Sonny swallowed hard at the sight, “You’ve got lipstick all over your mouth and your throat. We’ll just have to go back to your place and clean up after.”

“After?”  
“After I show you some other Rocky Horror songs I know,” Rafael grabbed Sonny’s arm, leading him to his car, “You know, _toucha toucha touch me, I wanna feel di-ir-ty_!”

**Author's Note:**

> I love that Raúl Esparza has such a big background on musical stage. He played Riff Raff for a time and you can see that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNt19OkSSfI. (Excuse the shitty quality.) 
> 
> Also I just love "Take Me Out" from Rent and I wish I could hear him sing that. 
> 
> Rafael Barba must need to release that tension somehow.  
> An epilogue may be in the future. We shall see.
> 
> Dedicated to tobeconspicuous for listening and taking a look. Hope you enjoyed!  
> Shout-out to keraunoscopia because I love the idea of Barba calling Carisi "Nicky" 
> 
> Kudos and comments if you, reader, enjoyed!


End file.
